What a difference a hundred years makes. Wednesday night, while the Mark Taper Forum introduced critics to "Gross Indecency," about the vilification that Oscar Wilde faced in 1895 for loving another man, Harvey Fierstein was across town at the House of Blues singing the gay anthem from "La Cage aux Folles," the musical he co-wrote with Jerry Herman about drag-show entrepreneurs who are a long-married gay couple.

Combing through your extensive preview of the year's upcoming films, I found only one film that would speak to my life as a gay man: Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy." Where are the other films presenting characters like me and the bulk of my close friends, gay men and women? Or are there, as it seems from the content of contemporary films, more prostitutes in this world than gay people? SCOTT GIANTVALLEY West Hollywood

November 16, 1987 | JOHN VOLAND and DEBORAH CAULFIELD, Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press

The intimate Helen Hayes Theater--one of the very few on Broadway that remains independently owned--will be sold at auction next year, its owners have announced. Built in 1912, the 499-seat theater has housed runs of "Gemini" and "Torch Song Trilogy," and it is currently home to "The Nerd." The owners have put a minimum value of $5 million on the theater. The March 24 sale will be handled jointly by Christie's and Cushman & Wakefield.

On stage, Harvey Fierstein made his "Torch Song Trilogy" such a galvanic experience you wanted to see it all over again, even at its 3-hour running time. It was composed of three interconnected one-act plays framed by cabaret numbers and plenty of asides, all held together by the sheer force of Fierstein's passion and self-deprecating humor.

The Bowery Theatre has officially parted ways with acting artistic director Ginny-Lynn Safford and is now gearing up for the West Coast premiere of "Safe Sex," the new play by Tony award-winning Harvey "Torch Song Trilogy" Fierstein on Feb. 11 for a six-week run. San Diego Repertory Theatre veteran Tavis Ross, most recently seen as Scrooge in the Rep's "A Christmas Carol," will direct.

I would like to thank you for the lovely piece you did on our film "Torch Song Trilogy" ("When Hearts Were Young and Gay" July 17, by John M. Wilson). While capturing the ebullient and cooperative mood of our production, however, your reporter accidentally or purposely demeaned the important contribution of our director, Paul Bogart. As I told your Mr. Wilson, I held up production of the film for almost three years while searching for the perfect director. Mr. Bogart was that person.

In the Tony Award-winning "Torch Song Trilogy," playwright Harvey Fierstein created the memorable character of Arnold Beckoff, a passionate, funny gay man searching for true love in a faithless world. First mounted on Broadway in 1982, "Torch Song Trilogy" was a pre-AIDS drama, and it worked on those terms: Arnold's quest for monogamy was one born of desire rather than fear. Times, however, have changed, and so have Fierstein's subjects.

After 80 or so albums and almost 55 years in the music profession, she sometimes is referred to as the "legendary" Anita O'Day. Her nightclub performances continue to draw praise, and now, unexpectedly, there is recognition from another industry. "A lawyer called and said one of my songs was going to be in some movie," she said matter-of-factly the other night before her closing show at Vine St. Bar & Grill.

On stage, Harvey Fierstein made his "Torch Song Trilogy" such a galvanic experience you wanted to see it all over again, even at its 3-hour running time. It was composed of three interconnected one-act plays framed by cabaret numbers and plenty of asides, all held together by the sheer force of Fierstein's passion and self-deprecating humor.

A husband, wife and bandit meet in a forest. The bandit rapes the wife and the husband is found dead--but by whose hand? The bandit, wife and a medium, through whom the spirit of the dead man testifies, each confesses to the crime in court. Which ones are lying? More important, why should they lie when death or the prospect of it is before them? "Rashomon," at the Marquis Public Theatre through Dec.

Barry Yourgrau has a way of growing on you, like ivy. His new show, at the Saxon-Lee Gallery, is called "Barry Yourgrau's Safari," and like a lot of his work, it's a double-entendre. A long fiction piece titled "Safari" makes up the evening's second half. But before that, he reads eight shorter tales (all from his published collection, "Wearing Dad's Head"), a forest of charming characters and absurd yet direct language through which we hunt for clues and meanings.

A husband, wife and bandit meet in a forest. The bandit rapes the wife and the husband is found dead--but by whose hand? The bandit, wife and a medium, through whom the spirit of the dead man testifies, each confesses to the crime in court. Which ones are lying? More important, why should they lie when death or the prospect of it is before them? "Rashomon," at the Marquis Public Theatre through Dec.

I would like to thank you for the lovely piece you did on our film "Torch Song Trilogy" ("When Hearts Were Young and Gay" July 17, by John M. Wilson). While capturing the ebullient and cooperative mood of our production, however, your reporter accidentally or purposely demeaned the important contribution of our director, Paul Bogart. As I told your Mr. Wilson, I held up production of the film for almost three years while searching for the perfect director. Mr. Bogart was that person.

In the Tony Award-winning "Torch Song Trilogy," playwright Harvey Fierstein created the memorable character of Arnold Beckoff, a passionate, funny gay man searching for true love in a faithless world. First mounted on Broadway in 1982, "Torch Song Trilogy" was a pre-AIDS drama, and it worked on those terms: Arnold's quest for monogamy was one born of desire rather than fear. Times, however, have changed, and so have Fierstein's subjects.